D7 and D8 Visa Portugal for Families and Couples from Brazil

Most content about the D7 and D8 visas treats the applicant as a single person. The income thresholds, the document checklists, the banking requirements — all presented for one person. Brazilian couples and families who apply together face an entirely different calculation, and the per-capita income requirement catches many of them off guard.

How Income Requirements Scale for Families

Portugal's visa income requirements are based on the national minimum wage (Retribuição Mínima Mensal Garantida — RMMG), set at €920 in 2026. The calculation scales for family members using a fixed multiplier.

For the D7 visa:

For the D8 visa:

The D8 requires 4× RMMG as the baseline, scaling similarly:

At a 1:6 EUR/BRL exchange rate, a D8-applying couple with one child must demonstrate income of approximately R$39,744 per month. That is a filtering threshold that significantly narrows the eligible Brazilian applicant pool.

Who Qualifies as a Dependent

Under Portuguese immigration law, the following may be included in a family-unit application:

• Spouse or civil partner (casamento or união de facto)
• Minor children under 18 (or under 21 if enrolled in education)
• Incapacitated adult children who are financially dependent
• Dependent ascendants (parents or parents-in-law) who are economically dependent

Each dependent included in the application increases the income threshold and requires their own documentation. For minor children, you need the apostilled birth certificate. For spouses, the apostilled marriage certificate (or proof of stable union for common-law partnerships).

Applying as a Couple: Same Application or Separate?

Brazilian couples can apply together in a single dossier, with one as the primary applicant and the other as dependent. The income is attributed to the primary applicant, who must demonstrate the combined threshold.

Alternatively, if both partners have qualifying income — both earn above €920 each for D7, or both earn above €3,680 for D8 — they can apply as co-applicants rather than principal/dependent. This has some advantages: if one application is rejected, the other may proceed; and it avoids the appearance that one partner is entirely financially dependent on the other, which can occasionally raise questions about the stability of the income structure.

In practice, most Brazilian couples where one partner earns significantly more than the other apply in the traditional principal/dependent structure. The income calculation is simpler and the paperwork is consolidated.

Proof of Relationship for Visa Purposes

The consulate requires documentation proving the legal relationship between the primary applicant and each dependent:

Spouse: Certidão de Casamento em Inteiro Teor, apostilled, issued within six months of the visa application date.

Common-law partner (união de facto): This is more complex. Portugal recognizes união de facto, but proving it to the consulate requires documentation that demonstrates the union has been stable for at least two years. A declaração de união de facto registered in Brazil, combined with shared address documentation and financial records, is the standard approach.

Children: Certidão de Nascimento em Inteiro Teor, apostilled, for each child.

All documents must be in Portuguese or accompanied by a certified Portuguese translation.

D7 Visa for Families: The Housing Requirement

The proof of housing must accommodate all family members. If your application covers two adults and two children, a studio flat is unlikely to satisfy the consulate's implicit expectation of adequate housing. The lease should describe the property size. While there is no explicit square-meter rule for visa purposes, consular reviewers use judgment, and a property described as "studio" or "T0" for four people invites questions.

A T1 (one-bedroom) is typically acceptable for a couple. A T2 or larger is advisable for families with children.

The Brazil to Portugal D7/D8 Visa Guide includes family-specific income calculation tables, the complete document checklist for couples and families, and guidance on how to structure the application when both partners have independent income. The family configuration section is one of the most detailed in the guide.

Family Reunification: An Alternative Path

If the primary applicant obtains a D7 or D8 visa and moves to Portugal first, family members can follow through the family reunification process rather than applying simultaneously. This approach is sometimes used when:

• The partner's income documentation is not yet organized
• One partner needs to remain in Brazil temporarily for work or family reasons
• The primary applicant wants to establish housing and residency before bringing dependents

Family reunification requires the primary applicant to be legally resident in Portugal (AR card issued) before applying for the family member's authorization. The income threshold for reunification is the same combined threshold as for a simultaneous application.

Processing times for family reunification through AIMA can be lengthy. Given current AIMA backlogs, families who want to arrive together should apply simultaneously from Brazil rather than planning for a subsequent reunification.

Children and School Enrollment

Children who arrive with their parents on a dependent visa have the right to enroll in Portuguese public schools immediately. The enrollment process:

1. Apostilled school records from Brazil (histórico escolar) — required for grade placement
2. Vaccination records (apostilled)
3. Residence proof (the family's lease contract)
4. Under 2026 rules, enrollment in public school for foreign children requires a valid residency visa — tourist status is not sufficient for formal enrollment

Grade equivalencies between Brazil and Portugal are handled by the school administration rather than requiring a formal DGES recognition process, which applies to higher education degrees rather than primary and secondary schooling.

D8 Visa: Adding a Non-Working Spouse

A specific scenario that comes up often among Brazilian digital nomads: the primary applicant works remotely and earns above the D8 threshold; the spouse does not work or earns below the threshold. The spouse applies as a dependent.

In this case, the income documentation covers only the primary applicant's earnings. The spouse's lack of income is not a problem as long as the primary applicant demonstrates the combined threshold (€5,520/month for two adults). The spouse's documents consist only of relationship proof and personal identity documents.

The spouse receives the same visa type and the same residency card as the primary applicant. They have the same Schengen travel rights, the same healthcare access, and the same eventual path to citizenship — all tied to the primary applicant's successful residency.

If the non-working spouse later wants to work in Portugal, they can apply for authorization through AIMA once the AR card is issued, without needing to modify the original visa type.

The Application Timeline for Families

Family applications are processed as a single dossier but with documents for each person. The timeline is identical to individual applications. Budget for:

• One VFS appointment slot for the whole family (you attend together)
• Documents for each family member — each requiring apostilles, with their own validity windows
• A larger savings buffer in the Portuguese bank account (the combined household requirement, not just the primary applicant's)
• A larger flat that the consulate will accept as appropriate for the family size

The 5-day correction window applies to family dossiers the same way it applies to individuals. If any family member's document is missing or incorrectly formatted, the whole application is at risk.

Bringing your family to Portugal from Brazil? The Brazil to Portugal D7/D8 Visa Guide covers the complete family application process — income calculations for every family configuration, document checklist per person, housing requirements for families, and the post-arrival school enrollment sequence.

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